The invention relates to printing along the top and bottom of mailpieces. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and a method for printing along the top of mailpieces and along the bottom of mailpieces using a fixed print head.
Processing mailpieces takes place not only at United States Postal Offices, but also at virtually all businesses or operations where communications via a mail delivery system is utilized. Various pieces of mail generated by numerous departments and individuals within a company must be addressed, collected, and sorted as part of the outgoing mail process. Each mailpiece must be individually addressed, metered, and delivered. Additionally, it is often desirable to add other markings to outgoing mailpieces such as advertisements, slogans, and POSTNET bar codes to outgoing mailpieces.
Because meter information is printed along the tops of a mailpieces and POSTNET barcodes are printed along the bottoms of the mailpieces, prior art systems have typically utilized two separate machines for printing the meter information and the POSTNET barcodes. The first machine, such as the “Galaxy”™ by Pitney Bowes Inc., has a printer with a print head positioned for printing meter indicia, postal inscriptions, and advertisement slogans along the tops of the mailpieces. The second machine, such as Pitney Bowes Inc., “M3”™ Mixed Mail Manager mail sorter has a printer with a print head positioned for printing POSTNET barcodes along the bottoms of the mailpieces. Typically, having a two-machine arrangement requires twice the mechanical hardware, computer hardware, and software, which increases the overall cost of the mail system. Additionally, with the increase in hardware and software components there is an increase in mail processing time and labor and in machine failures and breakdowns. Component breakdown translates into an increase in down time and an increase in repair costs or component replacement costs. Moreover, the two-machine arrangement increases the amount of floor space required to accommodate a mail system.
A need thus exists for a system and method that provides for printing along the top of mailpieces and along the bottom of mailpieces using a single print head.